MISO worries about meeting electric power demand this summer

The US Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) said in a summer readiness workshop that it will likely need to import more non-firm energy and/or need additional energy resources to meet the 2022 summer peak demand. Warmer-than-normal temperatures are forecasted throughout the MISO footprint.

The summer weather forecast is based on a variety of vendor forecasts as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). MISO said the summer peak load forecast is 124GW but the region has only about 119GW of projected regularly available generation.

“The seasonal assessment aligns with the cleared resources identified in the 2022-2023 Planning Resource Auction, which indicated capacity shortfalls in both the north and central regions of MISO and leaving those areas at increased risk of temporary, controlled outages to preserve the integrity of the bulk electric system,” said JT Smith, executive director – market operations at MISO during the April 28 workshop.

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MISO’s preparation for the summer season includes training and conducting exercises with member companies to prepare for the worst-case scenarios and to implement lessons learned and best practices. During real-time operations, unplanned outages and other variables may require additional actions to maintain grid reliability.

“We closely monitor the many challenges the summer season can bring and coordinate with our members and other grid operators for situational awareness,” said Jessica Lucas, MISO’s executive director – system operations. “Our members provide us with the details to determine our operational needs and we anticipate tight operating conditions this summer based on their insights.”

MISO’s Response to the Reliability Imperative is focused on implementing the needed changes to address the risks identified as the region’s fleet of generating resources continues to evolve in ways that are creating new system needs that must be addressed. These challenges are driven by such factors as utility and state policies to reduce carbon emissions.

For more information, see the 2022 Summer Readiness Workshop presentation materials.

This article was originally published on Power Grid International.